ABSTRACT
A clause rebus sic stantibus is said to be a tacit condition in every treaty, and a total change of circumstances has been put forward or tacitly understood on many occasions, as the excuse or justification for the repudiation of a treaty, or of certain clauses of a treaty. The definition of change of circumstances sufficient to warrant repudiation will depend more likely on the state of international relations than on actual facts. Russia put forward the pretext of changed circumstances in justification of her repudiation of the clauses of the Treaty of Paris neutralizing the Black Sea, and of her engagements as to Batoum contained in the Treaty of Berlin. Other treaties, like the Anglo-Japanese Treaty have been terminable within a fixed period. Other instances might be given of breaches of treaty obligation—breaches which have led to a rupture of relations and to war, breaches which have called forth diplomatic protest, and breach which have been silently ignored.
